August 2012 – Page 2

Road Trip-Pasadena. ( 2013 Rose Parade floats, Lucky Boy for Breakfast, shopping at Wholesome Choice)

August 19, 2012 Cathy Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Markets & Grocers

Hello. This is mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. We write about food: eating food, cooking food and adventures related to food. Cathy is posting today: Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are busy doing something related to food.

Last month, I posted about a road trip The Mister and I made to watch Rose Parade floats having a road test. This past Saturday, we woke early (4 a.m.) and drove North, (leaving around 5 a.m.) and around 7 a.m., parked a block from Raymond Street,

where we could walk to a Starbucks and then continue across the Gold Line Trolley tracks

and be on Raymond Street, where the floats were already lined up and on their road tests.

The Shriner's float is painted-marked with all the areas ready to be covered by flowers. It should be magnificent.

The City of Los Angeles float will be an ode to LAX- the major airport and hub where many of us have connected.

It will be promoting the new Tom Bradley International Terminal which will open early in 2013.
The City of Alhambra float is complete and that center has a working fountain!

It looks like the City of Glendale float has 'searchlights' lighting the sky.

The HGTV float, which has also been welded in the last month, has many types of houses on it- I see a bird house and igloo shape and the back house in this photo is lowered, as part of the testing to see that it will fit under the street and signal lights along the Rose Parade route.

The Trader Joe's float, which was only a rebar outline in the July road testing, is complete and so detailed with many moving parts. This is the view of it you won't see- the side which will be away from the television cameras.

From this camera side view, you can see the giant orange thing is an espresso machine, a few more details and also that a 'gravy boat' is following the larger boat of a float…and the back of the main float has a hand mixer (with spinning blades) and cracked eggs, and appears to have been blending up a fluffy meringue at the back of the boat.

Here's a little more detail at the center: a hand held can opener is in front of the espresso machine and under the open cookbook. This float is most certain to win a prize; it is unique and so well done.

So after we viewed these seven floats, The Mister and I walked back across Arroyo and North a block and we were once again at Lucky Boy.

(This is the view from the Trader Joe's)

Once again, creature of habit, I ordered the egg sandwich ($3.25) but neglected to ask for it on rye bread, and it was on white toast..not bad and still filling, it's just that I really like rye toast. I swear it is three scrambled eggs.

The Mister tried the bacon burrito this time, and I wanted you to see the grill marks on the tortilla, as well as the amount of filling which really does make it weigh around a pound- cheese, hash browns, eggs and …bacon!

We did walk over to the Trader Joe's and purchased some Goddess salad dressing, which I had read about (it is good; has tahini, soy and garlic). Then we were headed home, and decided to drive on the 210 toward Interstate 15 for our trip South…

knowing that if we took the 210 to the 57 to the 71 and went West on 91 (instead of East, which goes to the 15) and three or four exits, we would be at the Anaheim Hills location of Wholesome Choice, a fascinating Market which I posted about more than two years ago.

The store has good prices and selection of fruits and vegetables

as well as several areas of various ethnic cuisines in steam trays for easy grab and go.

as well as gelato,

and six glassed bakery cases…

There is also the area I migrated to- the olives (although those figs stuffed with coconut on the left caught my eye)…

and the various house prepared salads, including hummus and baba ganoosh, which were purchased…

along with *hot* out of the oven, almost three feet long, just baked , placed on a piece of brown paper

sesame covered, spongy soft, bubbled and a little burned fresh Sangak bread ($2.79). The bread lasted four meals, only because we resisted tearing off pieces while driving home.

We were home by 12:30 and had a great Saturday adventure. I hope all of you did, too.

Lucky Boy Drive In 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105Website It is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, otherwise it's open.

Wholesome Choice 5755 East La Palma Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 (Open 7-11 daily) (Food Court area open 11-8 daily) website

Kairouan (Tunisia) – The Great Mosque, A tour of the Medina, and Makroud

August 18, 2012 mmm-yoso Travel, Tunisia, Tunisian Food

Buoyed by our early morning visit to the Medina, we were excited to see what the day held out for us. As would be the norm, our driver/guide Ben was perfectly on time. This morning's agenda included a visit to The Mosque of Uqba, otherwise known as the Great Mosque. Considered to be the holiest Islamic site in North Africa and the fourth most holy in Islam, it is both impressive, yet quite understated at the same time. The walls and buttresses are quite imposing.

While we waited for someone to open the mosque up for us, I noticed that some of the buttresses were strangely bent and none of them really matched. Ben told us that many of these were brought from other sites….roman ruins and places like El Djem.

There's an understated grandness to the place. The courtyard look huge in the early morning sun and the minaret soaring over a hundred feet over the mosque.

On the South end, the dome of the portico catches your eye.

The mosque styles here are totally different from what we had got used to seeing in Turkey. But they are no less beautiful.

Since we're not muslim, we aren't allowed into the prayer room. But we were able to view it from the doorway.

Notice the wood topping the pillars. That's because they are of different sizes. These were brought here from places like Carthage and the soon to be seen in an upcoming post, Sbeitla.

As we left the mosque, Ben introduced us to a nice young man who would be our guide through the Medina. We really enjoyed this…..unlike the very touristy…..or to say it like Ben does, "touristic", the medina in Kairouan seemed to be a very functional medina. The winding roads, some of which were fairly wide, housed a number of homes and mosques. There seemed to be quite a few families living here.

We passed many fruit and vegetable stands along the way.

Along the way little details were pointed out to us. Like the "Hand of Fatima" on the doors. You can tell how many families lived in back of these doors by the number of "hands" on the door.

We were also pointed to the different door knockers on each door. Each was indicated for different family members. You could tell who was at the front door based on the knock.

We got to sample some Berber bread…..

During our breakfast in the hotel and earlier the previous day the Missus sampled the semolina based confection called Makroud. Stuffed with a date mixture and drenched in honey, this eggless confection can keep for months. The Missus and I decided that makroud just might make it through our trip, so we decided to get some. Instead of taking us to one of the bakeries along the front of the medina, we were lead to a tiny little shop down one of the alleyways of the medina. In it, a gentleman made makroud by hand, the old fashioned way….probably for decades.

We watched him roll out and fold the confection with an economy of motion.

We didn't realize that once formed the makroud is actually deep fried then drenched in honey.

While our makroud was being made we were taken Dar Hassine Allani an example of a 18th century house in the medina. This was actually quite interesting and fun.

I really enjoyed ducking down the tiny "rabbit hole" of the stairway to the food cellar. The temperature here remains very stable, which helps with the storage of the olive oil and honey.

We were treated to mint tea and makroud on the roof of the museum.

The view wasn't too shabby either…..

There was one last stop before picking our makroudup. We were led up a wide stairway to this contraption.

This is a camel driven "Noria" a water wheel. we were told that if we came back a few hours later, they would be a camel up here working the water wheelof the Bir Barrouta, a holy water well.

Really neat!

A few minutes later we wound our way back to pick up our makroud….which the folks at work actually enjoyed…..almost a month later!

COMC: Keeping Cool at Izakaya Sakura, Buga, and Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori (plus a bonus)

August 15, 2012 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Korean Restaurants, Pakistani Food

Man, it was pretty hot and humid there for a couple of days, wasn't it? It sure does dampen your appetite. I don't know about you, but we tend to go with the tried and true when eating during weather like that. Here's places I've posted on a number of times, so we'll go the COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card) route with this one.

Izakaya Sakura:

Well, the Missus has been cutting down on a bunch of things and Sakura is one of those places, with a la carte ordering where She can just get a couple of small items to eat. With the recent weather I'd go with something like Zaru Soba or Tempura Zaru Soba.

While the Missus can get any number of protein items like…..

Shishamo

Or a number of Shioyaki or Misozuke preparations…..

And even perhaps one of the few creatures She still eats that walks on land…..

Izakaya Sakura
3904 Convoy St #121
San Diego, CA 92111

Buga:

The other day, the Missus wanted to go to Buga, but not for Korean BBQ, even though She was craving some beef. Instead She went with the Yukkwe Bi Bim Bap.

So I guess She won't eat beef cooked, but will raw? Anyway, it was heavenly with a nice amount of Chojang…..very refreshing.

I went with the Bibim Naengmyun……

Of course there was panchan…….

Usually, there's no one at Buga before 5pm on weekdays, so we didn't have to be worried about all the essence of Korean BBQ. It was a nice meal…….and I didn't have Sammy and Frankie following me around the house afterwards.

Buga Korean BBQ Restaurant
5580 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori:

One evening, I didn't feel like crowds…..so what the heck was I doing going to Yakyudori? Well, they don't start yakitori until 530, so if you get there early, it's easy enough to get something light, like some Natto Gohan.

And some chicken karaage……

Which on this trip was pretty good……

And slink on away as the crowds start pouring in.

Yakyudori Ramen and Yakitori
4898 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

House of Khan pop-up:

Candice had been trying to coordinate a dinner for us here….unfortunately, a crazy schedule, which included my trip home and other stuff prevented me from attending until the last evening of this Pakistani pop-up.

I'd usually do a full on post, but since this was the last evening……hopefully, these photos will do until perhaps we get another run or the really nice young lady Selina gets a permanent location for a restaurant. This one was located in the California Kebab location off College.

Sad to see that we were just about the only folks there to enjoy the food.

I've been to a couple of pop-ups, but usually go myself and after seeing all the folks with their posse's and busting out all this gear…..I just keep to myself and try to enjoy the food.

There you go….I hope you're having a great "hump" day!

Cumin, Sichuan Peppercorn, and Five Spice Chicken

August 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

This has been my go-to recipe for a while. The Missus and Her ever changing eating habits….chia seeds, hemp seeds, sprouted raw almonds, no red meat, no cooked red meat, no chicken or turkey, but duck, coconut oil, agave syrup……..I'll never know what might appear when I open that refrigerator door. So on those nights when the Missus has Her meals set…..right now it's tons of salmon and having me perfect smoked fish, I'll often go to this pseudo-recipe, inspired by Yang Rou Chuan, those grilled skewers of lamb you'll find on street corners in China.

I'm lucky to have my own stash to go to……..ground cumin from Xinjiang, soon to be replaced by the good stuff from Penzey's, smoked salt, sea salt, Sichuan Peppercorn from Chengdu, Five Spice from QingDao, Korean ground chilies, good quality granulated garlic…….

I get my chicken skin on and dust the skin side with some potato starch before first searing, skin side down in my cast iron pan with some grapeseed oil. I found that you can get grapeseed oil for pretty reasonable prices at places like North Park Produce. For some reason a smear of Hoisin Sauce just brings everything together.

Of course, it's not for everybody….the flowery-anise-armpit smells can be a bit strong for some. For me, it's my go to chicken dish….for now.

This past weekend the Missus wanted some Grilled Tamarind Shrimp to eat in lettuce cups….oh, right now, carbs are persona non grata as well.

So I bought a couple of boned chicken legs from Nijiya and decided to see if these would really taste good over charcoal.

I seasoned these more heavily, especially with salt. I tried to keep the skin facing all one way……so I could start over the hot coals skin side down…..perhaps crisp them up a bit.

In spite of thinking that I had seasoned these pretty heavily; I think I could have used even more salt. Still, there was a nice savory-buzz(from the Sichuan peppercorns), with a touch of heat.

The Missus even went ahead and made the little lettuce and herb garnish for my plate….cute, huh?

I think I'll do these again…….

Breakfast of Champions – Oahu edition Redux: Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Harry’s Cafe, and Diner’s Waimalu

August 13, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Honolulu, Loco Mocos, Oahu, Travel

Even though my first "Breakfast of Champions" post is probably the most spammed (somehow appropriate) post on our blog, I couldn't help but do a follow-up. Here's the breakfasts I had during my last trip home.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop:

I really got a kick from the very old-school atmosphere at Kapiolani Coffee Shop during my oxtail soup stop, that I went back just to see what breakfast was like.

There were no customers when I arrived, and was directed to exactly the same table I had sat at before….funny, yeah?

I got a cup of coffee while I looked over the menu…..yep, this place is old school all right, the cup o'joe tasted like it had been sitting around since I was in high school! Man, it was like mud….the real friendly guy kept wanting to refill it, but I just kept telling him, "no need" and making up some excuse like, "my docta' said I got to cut down on da' caffiene, no good fo' my heart" and stuff like that. Yeeeesh……

I hoped that my loco moco fared better and it did.

The kitchen bouquet gravy could have used a bit more salt and the eggs were a bit past how I want my easy-over eggs to be, but this wasn't bad at all. The hamburger patty had been pressed on the griddle developing a nice char, but the gravy balanced out the possibility of a dry burger. Not bad at all.

But what I enjoyed the most was the mac salad.

it had just the right amount of salt and mayo and was nicely chilled. I actually wanted to order more mac salad…..but how would I explain, since I supposedly had "one bad ticka'"…..no coffee because of a cardiac problem and I'm there eating like three scoops of macaroni salad??? Would have been a bit odd….so I decided just to enjoy what I had.

Kapiolani Coffee Shop
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, HI 96701

Harry's Cafe:

Harry's Cafe, on Waimanu street, just a block and a half from Kapiolani has a bit of a cult following. The place is a total hole-in-the-wall and very divey….the type of places that "butt crack guys"…you know, the fellows who work the trades, stop and devour a ton of calories before heading to work.

They are also famous for a 99 cent breakfast……..

I was a bit late for the special, but decided to drop by for breakfast anyway. The place was pretty busy when I arrived. Four movers were eating a massive amount of food on one table….at the bar, a pretty seedy looking couple talked toeach other real loud….the woman kept half running out of the place to get "some fresh air"….yeah, right. They ended up sharing two pancakes and one cup of coffee! Every time they spoke real loud, the movers would all turn and give them the "stink eye".

I really got a kick out of the labeling for the sugar dispenser……makes me wonder if someone once mistook this for salt ot visa-versa???

I believe that "Harry" retired a while back and sold the place to the very nice Korean woman, whose name is Christy if I recall.

I was pretty hungry and went with the Corned Beef Hash Loco Moco.

Honestly, not the best breakfast I've ever had….the yolks of the eggs had broken, the gravy was somewhat gluey, and the corned beef hash was too soft and mushy, with no caramelization. It also tasted kinda funky……after reading this post on Kat's Blog, I'm pretty sure it wasn't my canned corn beef of choice either.

But heck, it was reasonable and gave me more than enough calories for the shopping I needed to do for the Missus.

Harry's Cafe
1101 Waimanu St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Hours:
Mon-Fri 6am – 3pm
Sat 7am – 2pm
Sun 7am – 12pm

Diner's Drive In Waimalu:

**** This location of Diners has closed

On the day I was to leave for home, I left the in-laws pretty early. I still had some shopping to do and I wanted to hit up at least one place for lunch. Anyway, I wanted to check email and stuff and needed a wi-fi connection so I stopped in Waimalu at Starbuck's. As I walked to Starbuck's, I could hear Diner's calling me. It was early, I was a bit hungry so why not?

When I entered, I noticed two of the "bruddah's" each eating on a different table had two styrofoam containers open and were eating from both. It didn't register until I opened up my $6.95 breakfast.

Do they sell "small" eggs? Check out the size of the eggs compared to the three, fairly thin slices of Portuguese Sausage. No wonder those guys were eating two plates!

The woman working the counter was very nice though……not much else to say…..

Diner's Drive-In
98-1277 Kaahumanu St
Aiea, HI 96701

So there you go…….a trio of breakfasts and a ton of calories….and I still lost weight! Go figure!

Yesenia’s Taco Shop (Kearny Mesa)

August 12, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Right before I left for my trip home, I met my good friend Candice for lunch. I was really swamped and having lunch with someone who's great company like Candice just makes the whole day better. With so much on my mind, I really drew blanks when it came to where we'd grab lunch. Luckily, one of Candice's friends recommended a place I'd driven past dozens of times on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard….a taco shop called Yesenia's.

I gotta say…..this place sure is a bright orange…..

The menu seemed fairly huge and overwhelming, though the young lady behind the counter was very friendly. There were several interesting items on the menu and we ordered a bunch of stuff.

Starting with some Aguachile.

First off, the slices of avocado looked like it was headed South. Not a bad sign, but somewhat ominous if you'll be eating raw shrimp "cooked" in lime. The shrimp indeed tasted a bit fishy, it hadn't gone bad yet, but it seemed headed in that direction. The marinade was very mild with regards to aguachile….I expect bracing citrus tones and a good deal of heat, but this was almost bland. To be perfectly fair, this tasted much better at the end of the meal when the shrimp had been in the marinade for about half an hour.

I really didn't care for the Chicken Mole either.

The chicken was quite dry and the mole lacked the wonderful complex spice tones that I enjoy in a mole poblano.

I liked the beans, though….nicely seasoned.

Things started looking up when we tried the menudo.

As far as I can recall, this was full on tripe and not much else. It was also the least funky menudo that I've ever had. The tripe was well prepared, light crunch, but not tough or hard. I wish the broth had been seasoned more aggressively…..it needed salt, hot sauce, and a good amount of oregano would have helped too. Nice tripe though…….

In my opinion, the last item was the best…….fish rolled tacos, something I'd usually not think of ordering.

It really didn't look like much, but the fish had a nice flavor which came through very clearly. The shell was nice and crisp and the fish moist. Cabbage instead of lettuce is a good choice, it added a mild earthy-bitterness to the whole deal. I'd have this again…….

The funniest little snippet of a conversation we had was when I asked what her friends favorite item here was…..Candice smiled and sheepishly replied, "Carne Asada fries……" Ha! It just cracked me up…… I did tell her that, if her foodie……or in this case beerie (??? what do you call those folks?) buddy really thought this was the best carne asada fries I'd check them out….really.

So…..being a man of my word, I returned after my trip, and stepped into the wonderful orange glow of Yesenia's.

And ordered up something I hadn't had in maybe….I dunno, five years???

Carne Asada fries ($6.55). The carne asada was fairly tough, though decently flavored…perhaps better than your friendly neigborhood 'berto's. The guac was decent, it added some creaminess to the whole deal….I'm still not a real big fan of sour cream on this. I really did like the fries, which were very competently fried……not greasy and crisp. For some reason, this didn't feel like the gut-busting, hollow-leg filling, burp fest that I recall CAFs being. I enjoyed the various salsas here as well…….

This location of Yesenia's gets really busy around noon and after looking over all the breakfast items, I read they open at like 530 in the morning. That said, I'm not sure if I'll return anytime soon…..though I'm now curious, since I've gotten a couple of CAF recommendations over the years……what shop makes the best CAFs???? Just for future reference of course……

Yesenia's Taco Shop
8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Honolulu: Pau Hana Time at 8 Fat Fat 8

August 10, 2012 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Honolulu, Oahu, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

After lunch at Mitch's I was off on a mission for the Missus at Ala Moana Center. Man, when I was first back here after being gone for almost a decade I was totally….well, overwhelmed might be the word. Ala Moana had grown into a multi-level, multi-building, multi (terrible)-parking, monster. Now two visits later, I've kinda relaxed and grown easy with the place.

It being a beautiful, if a bit muggy day, made things a lot easier. Still, I couldn't believe how hard it was to find parking at 130 in the afternoon.

After picking up gifts and omiyagi, I still had a great deal of time on my hands, so I decided to take one of my favorite drives….. I'm a "townie" at heart and I've always had a fondness for Mount Tantalus and Round Top Drive. Of course, it's been maybe almost fifteen years since I've been here. I wondered what had changed….well some things have changed, like, I don't remember the viewing platform at Puu Ualakaa State Wayside. You still can't beat the views from here.

I could see some rain moving in from Manoa Valley to my left…….

If you look down to the grassy area in front of the platform…..you can still imagine scenes from a certain well known movie filmed in Hawaii.

I used come up here once in a while when I lived here……though many times during the later part of the evenings….ummmm…..to…well…look at the city lights…yeah, to look at the city lights.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around, just checking things out……until I went to meet my friends for Pau Hana time, at a place where I've spent many of my evenings for over a decade.

I've kinda gone through this before, but from the day 8 Fat Fat 8 opened, we….I was a regular customer until I left Honolulu. In fact, even after I left, the Missus and I would return as the owner, Sy (RIP) adored the Missus. He knew the Missus as that quiet young lady who never understood what my friends and I were talking about (it's pidgin after all) but loved his black-bean ginger crab. In fact, I'd return there to meet friends and Sy would ask me, "when your wife come….tell me….I go buy crab!" So I'd tell him….the Missus and I would get there and have a seat at the table reserved by my friends. Sy would bring out this bucket and place a couple of live crab on the table! They'd be scuttling around….he'd tell the Missus, "which one you want….you pick!" Man, those were good times……much happened behind those seedy looking doors in the joint next to Midas on Beretania.

It was quite interesting….I hadn't been here since Sy passed away. There's a pool table now, fewer dart boards….still karaoke though. And to my joy, the place is still hopping, at least on a Friday night. Much has changed, different folks, different kinds of drinks, everybody texts, or tweets, or whatever….but pau hana time endures.

I ordered my usual drink…..which will make those craft beer lovers in San Diego cringe. But when I'm back home; it's "Bud light, bucket ice"…..you don't buck tradition.

It was nice to know that Sy's daughter, I believe her name is Mary….I only remember Sy telling me when she was going to school in Beijing, is now running the place. It's been modernized a bit, business seems more formal, but it's still totally local.

And in my opinion, some of the best "stick to your ribs" local kind grindz are found at places like these. The best example would be Side Street Inn……

So here's what we had as pupus……I hadn't had Crispy Gau Gee, since before the millennium….

Crispy, salty, shrimpy, porky, dipped in a mildly spicy-shoyu sauce…..it took me back to my childhood when "Chinese Food" (notice the quotes) was something we had on special occasions.

"L" wanted the calamari, which, to me was over battered and gummy….though it was decent drinking food.

We ended by getting "Fat Fat Chicken", which was my favorite menu item here. It was the signature item that set 8 Fat Fat 8 apart when they first opened.

Basically salt and pepper chicken, flavored with five-spice, deep fried. This is still pretty good…crisp skin, nice flavor, great with beer, not as dry as I recalled.

Beyond the food; it was nice seeing my "old friends"….and we are getting older. I'm hoping we'll be meeting up again soon…… 2 Filipino's from Kalihi, 1 dude from Cleveland, and me….how we ever got to be life-long friends, I'll never know…..and that really doesn't matter, does it?

8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille
1327 S Beretania St
Honolulu, HI 96814

Thanks for reading!

Recently Consumed

August 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking

Man, I could just tell by this morning's sunrise it was going to be a hot one…..

I'm thinking it would be pure torture to do my post on Ramen Yamadaya today….so I think I'll wait until maybe next week. We've been eating at home a lot, the Missus has cut down on carbs and is now almost (can't give up lamb/goat/duck) pescadarian….so I'm trying to support Her somewhat by cutting down on the carbs at home as well. It doesn't mean we haven't been eating rather well…..now all the red meat belongs to me!

So here's just a few items recently consumed…….

Left over steak is wonderful stuff…….

The Missus has been eating wild salmon by the boatload…….

I just make a bunch of it, either seared off or smoked, and She eats it during the week for lunch…….

Some experimental Chili Shrimp…….

I love watercress……..

The Missus used to hate asparagus, but now She's come around……..

Especially when there's an egg involved…….

Here's another experiment. I marinated some swordfish overnight…….

Then smoked it on the stovetop…..

It tasted really good, but because it was really hot smoked, it was rather dry……I'm thinking of using some kind of glaze next time.

Did I mention that I get the entire steak to myself nowadays?

I think I'll grab myself one of these…….

An okratini……..

I hope your keeping cool and having a great week.

Oahu: Mitch’s Fish Market

August 7, 2012 mmm-yoso Honolulu, Oahu, Sushi and Sashimi, Travel

My MIL actually gave me a "day off" during my stay….just joking, I was meeting friends for "dinner" and since libations were going to be involved driving back to Ewa Beach was out of the question. Though we weren't meeting until about 7, I started my day very early with a nice breakfast (a later post), then did some shopping for the Missus. The Missus had encouraged me to have a "really good" lunch and since the temps were hitting the high 80's, I thought sushi would be great…..not mayo-filled, mega rice bomb fast-foodish stuff, but a light meal of decent quality fish. My list of three was pretty easy….Sushi Sasabune…but they didn't open until 12, Sushi Izakaya Gaku is a strictly dinner only place, and Mitch's Fish Market. Mitch's opens at 1130 and is located in a warehouse in the industrial zoned area near the airport. It does indeed look a bit like a machine shop or similar business….

I managed to squeeze my rental into a tiny little slot down the street from the tiny (5 seat sushi bar and two four tops) shop. The place was half full, a group of three to my left on the bar was hitting the Otokoyama pretty early in the day. don't blame them though….Mitch's is purely BYOB, so why not…hopefully you're not driving after all that sake, though. I looked over the menu in chalk on the wall, with various specials and the head Itamae, maybe because he didn't know me handed me over to his right hand man, Masa Murakami…perhaps he didn't deem me worthy? No complaints, though as I had an excellent light meal…which started and ended with o-toro.

At twenty bucks a pop, this ain't cheap, but I gotta tell you; it was very nice….melt in your mouth nice……touch it and it seems to start melting nice. The other piece had a slight brown streak on it, but also just melted in my mouth….such richness is worth the price once in a while. Cheap and sushi/sashimi are not inclusive of each other….. The rice was well prepared, you could count every grain, and it was not too tightly packed.

The only item I thought was not up to par was the Kohada(gizzard shad).

Which lacked the slightly cured milkiness that I enjoy.

The Kanpachi(Amberjack) on the other hand was quite good.

It looked dry and almost firm like shiromi, but man, when I put it into my mouth with just a drop of shoyu it almost melted away, rich and clean, with a slight sweetness.

I decided to try some other specials. First up, Isaki, known as Chicken Grunt(how's that for a paradoxial name) or Striped Pigfish, was something that I'd never had before.

Topped with a light drizzle of ponzu, green onions, and momji oroshi, this had a fairly delicate texture when compared to, say snapper or halibut.

I also got some Shima Aji (jack) which I know best by it's local name papio.

This had a nice mild sweetness to it, it was also a lot more tender and light than versions I've had before. I definitely want this again. I finished my meal with another duo of o-toro and left feeling refreshed……

I really enjoyed my meal at Mitch's. And while it's not the best I've ever had, it was without a doubt very good and to me well worth the 80 bucks or so I paid. No fancy arrangements, no pretense, just straight ahead good fish.

Mitch's Fish Market
524 Ohohia St
Honolulu, HI 96819

Open Daily – 1130am – 830pm

Fusion or Con-Fusion Part 2: Jiggle Jiggle Korean Grill

August 6, 2012 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Korean Restaurants

*** Update: This restaurant has closed.

Yes, i'm finally getting around to doing this one…..which I promised with "part 1" on fuze. I had actually stopped and looked over the menu when JJ first open, some Korean standards, fad following Korean tacos……a carne asada fries knock-off, which is kind of redundant because CAFs are a knock-off itself….so what is a copy off something that's a copy? My friend Candice even mentioned the place in a text, to which I replied, the "the name and the menu makes me giggle giggle".

And yet, there were a couple of folks I knew who liked the place. My usual query would be the one where I asked whether it was a location thing (Midway) or not. Several folks assured me that wasn't the reason. They also told me the Korean tacos were ,"the bomb". And even faced with the fast-food looking facade who am I to judge. If this place could be half as good as….say Gina's BBQ in Honolulu, I would be happy. Sorry to say, it ain't quite that……so if you decide to stop reading here, I wouldn't hold it against you.

On my first visit, I did order "the trio" ($8), one each of the kalbi, dak bulgogi, and daeji bulgogi.

It was a bomb all right; a gut bomb, a lettuce and spicy mayo-fest. I gotta say, if it's pure capacity you're trying to fill, then these might do it. The tortillas were the worst this side of El Pollo Loco, as they just fell to bits and had almost no flavor. I tasted each protein separately and the kalbi was by far the worst, pale, flavorless, and really tough "LA Kalbi" type shortribs. The pork was tough, but at least it had some heat, but all was really lost in the wilderness of lettuce. The chicken bulgogi was probably the best of the trio, decent, but again just covered with "stuff". Let me say however, if you're looking to fill yourself up….this might do it.

So I figured that would be pretty much it……but, the folks running the place were really nice, so I decided to visit one more time. This time I started with the Yaki Mandu ($4).

I really liked the way these were fried….light and crisp. The dipping sauce was a bit watered down and the filling really bland, otherwise this would have been a winner.

My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try the Korean Fries, which, priced at $5.50 are really worth it. But man, this was a mess……

On the good side, I enjoyed the interplay of the kimchi and the fries. On the bad side kimchi and nacho cheese…..that's a bad partnership. I did wonder why the menu said Spicy Mayo and Korean Aioli, which seems to be somewhat redundant. Too much mayo and cheese for my taste and the bulgogi….well you could see it, but not really taste it. Though I did have sort of an epiphany while trying to eat this….if we had a category on the blog for "stoner food", this would be right up there! After all, it was salty, tons of fat, interesting textures…..hmmmm…

To me, the food at fuze is executed better, with higher quality ingredients. Still, the prices here are reasonable and if anyone could give me a recommendation that's not kalbi, spicy pork, bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, or mandu oriented, I may just check them out again. Though I might recommend Jiggle Jiggle to you at the end of a hard night of drinking a la "grease-berto's"….but JJ closes at 9 during the week and 10 on Friday and Saturday.

Jiggle Jiggle Korean Grill
3146 Midway Drive
San Diego, CA 92110